New Barcelona manager Gerardo 'Tata' Martino has revealed the part Paraguay's president had in helping him get the top job with the Catalan giants.
A relative unknown until barely a week ago, the Argentine's biggest role before getting the call from Barca was coaching the Paraguay national team, who he took to the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup and the final of the Copa America a year later.
In an interview with Argentine TV station TN, Martino explained that the president of Paraguay, Horacio Cartes, first introduced him to Barca club president Sandro Rosell several years ago, when the Catalan was a marketing executive for Nike and Cartes ran Paraguay side Libertad.
He said: "It all came about via Horacio Cartes. I met the president of Barcelona [Rosell] at a dinner at Cartes' house. Then, when the Barcelona job became vacant, Rosell didn't know how to contact me so he called Cartes, and that's how it all began.
"Until I'd spoken to Rosell, I had no idea what was going on. He told me he wanted to put me in contact with Andoni Zubizarreta [Barcelona's sporting director] and a few days later we started to talk. I didn't even mention it to my wife."
The Argentinian also said he never thought he would be considered for the Barca job, and thought his best chance at coaching Lionel Messi was in the distant future, if the four-time Ballon d'Or winner returned to his boyhood club Newell's Old Boys, which Martino coached until last month.
"It's all very exciting, but I'm enjoying it," said Martino, who was presented at the Nou Camp on Friday and who last night watched his new side hammer Norwegian team Valerenga 7-0.
"This is an amazing job which brings up many sensations, but one that also carries a great responsibility. This exceeds anything I've done before. Going straight from Argentina to Barcelona is crazy, it would have been more normal to start a career here in Spain first.
"Messi continues to surprise everyone with every game and I'm no different. I believed that he wanted to return to Rosario one day and that at some point he'd return to Newell's, and I thought that's when I'd be his coach. I never imagined I'd coach Messi at Barcelona."
Messi is just one of many big talents and personalities that Martino will have to get used to managing, but he insists he is undaunted by the task.
"I believe that the best way to deal with it is to accept that Barcelona is full of stars and work with them naturally, speaking with them face to face and with respect," he said.
"I think that's the way to move the club forward."
– Press Association
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
